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Frank Wood's A-Level Accounting

Frank Wood's A-Level Accounting

Alan Sangster | Frank Wood

(2015)

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Book Details

Abstract

This edition of Frank WoodÕs A-level Accounting has been restructured to match closely the AQA A-level syllabus, now covered in the first fifteen chapters. In particular coverage of partnership accounts, now in one chapter; all company accounting is covered in one chapter; and standard costing and variance is covered in a single chapter. The book builds on a first course in accounting and includes coverage of the more advanced aspects of financial and management accounting.

As well as providing instruction and practice in the preparation of accounting information, the text stresses the need for students to understand the business reasons behind accounting techniques. A continuing strength of the book is the large amount of question material. Recent past questions from the main examining bodies are included as well as a useful guide to examination techniques at A-level.

 


Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Cover Cover
A-Level Accounting i
Contents v
Detailed contents vii
Preface xv
Introduction: The scope of this book 1
Part 1 Further Aspects of Financial Accounting 5
Incomplete records 7
Why double entry is not used 7
Profit as an increase in capital 7
Drawing up the financial statements 10
Incomplete records and missing figures 13
Where there are two missing pieces of information 14
Cash sales and purchases for cash 15
Goods stolen or lost by fire, etc. 15
Non-profit-oriented organisations 26
Non-profit-oriented organisations 26
Receipts and payments accounts 26
Income and expenditure accounts 27
Profit or loss for a special purpose 28
Accumulated fund 28
Drawing up income and expenditure accounts 28
Outstanding subscriptions and the prudence concept 32
Life membership 33
Donations 33
Entrance fees 33
The differences in headings 33
Partnership accounts 40
The need for partnerships 40
The characteristics of a partnership 41
Limited partners 41
Partnership agreements 41
An example of the distribution of profits 44
The profit and loss appropriation account 45
Capital accounts and current accounts 46
The balance sheet 48
Structural changes in the ownership of a partnership 49
Goodwill 49
Goodwill in the partnership accounts 51
Asset revaluation 58
Partnership dissolution 60
The rule in Garner v. Murray 67
Piecemeal realisation of assets 68
Valuation of assets 93
Part I: Valuation of Stock 93
Different valuations of stock 93
First in, first out method 94
Last in, first out method 95
Average cost method 95
Stock valuation and the calculation of profits 96
Reduction of stock valuation to net realisable value 96
Stock groups and valuation 97
Some other bases in use 98
Periodic stock valuation 99
Factors affecting the stock valuation decision 99
SSAP 9, Stocks and long-term contracts 100
The conflict of aims 101
Work in progress 101
Goods on sale or return 102
Stocktaking and the balance sheet date 102
Stock levels 103
Part II Revaluation Of Assets 105
Fixed asset revaluation 105
Part III Measurement Of Income And Asset Values 106
Measurement of income 106
Asset valuation alternatives 107
Capital maintenance 111
A worked example 112
Combinations of different values and capital maintenance concepts 112
A worked example 113
Operating capital maintenance concept 113
Problems during a period of changing price levels 114
Types of organisations and sources of finance 120
Types of business ownership 120
Companies 121
Long-term sources of finance 123
Other sources of finance 126
Part 2 Published Financial Statements Of Limited Companies And Accounting Standards 129
Published financial statements and requirements of user groups 131
The functions of accounting 131
Company trading and profit and loss account differences 133
Company balance sheet differences 135
Users of published financial statements and their needs 137
Aspects of company financial statements for external use 140
Published financial statements 145
Published profit and loss account: Format 1 145
Published balance sheet: Format 1 153
Published balance sheets and GCE A-level examinations 156
Other statements and notes required in the annual report 157
Additional requirements introduced or amended by FRS 3 159
Small and medium-sized company reporting requirements 160
Summary financial statements 161
Other issues 161
Illustrative company financial statements: example 1 164
Illustrative company financial statements: example 2 168
Reserves, bonus issues and rights issues 189
Shareholders’ funds 189
The nature of reserves 189
Revenue reserves 190
General reserves 190
Capital reserves 190
Profits available for payments of dividends in cash 191
Allowable reductions of capital reserves 193
Bonus shares 193
Rights issues 196
Published financial statements and ratio analysis 205
Part I: Accounting Ratios 206
Why use ratios? 206
How to use ratios 207
Users of ratios 207
Liquidity 208
Profitability 213
Efficiency ratios 217
Capital structure ratios 217
Shareholder ratios 221
Overtrading 222
Part II The Analysis And Interpretation Of Accounting Statements 224
Interpretation of ratios – trends and comparability 224
Sector relevance 225
Trend analysis 225
Comparisons over time 227
Comparisons with other businesses 228
Pyramid of ratios 229
Return on capital employed: company policy 230
Fixed and variable expenses 231
Summary of ratios 233
Cash flow statements 251
Need for cash flow statements 251
FRS 1, Cash flow statements 252
Businesses other than companies 252
Profit and liquidity not directly related 252
Where from: where to 252
Construction of a cash flow statement for a sole trader 253
Note on the use of brackets 255
Adjustments needed to net profit 255
Example of adjustments 256
A comprehensive example 257
UK companies and FRS 1 259
Cash flow 260
Operating activities and cash flows 261
Dividends from joint ventures and associates 262
Returns on investment and servicing of finance 262
Taxation 262
Capital expenditure and financial investment 263
Acquisitions and disposals 263
Equity dividends paid 263
Management of liquid resources 263
Financing 264
Material transactions not resulting in any cash flows 264
Exceptional and extraordinary items 264
Two further examples 264
Uses of cash flow statements 268
Accounting standards 275
Why do we need accounting standards? 275
The background 276
The Accounting Standards Board 276
International accounting standards 277
GCE A-levels and accounting standards 278
FRS 18 Accounting policies (issued 2000) 278
SSAP 9, Stocks and long-term contracts (revised 1988) 279
FRS 15, Tangible fixed assets (issued 1999) 280
FRS 10, Goodwill and intangible assets (companies) 282
FRS 11, Impairment of fixed assets and goodwill 282
SSAP 13, Accounting for research and development 283
Other standards that may be relevant to your syllabus 285
Further thoughts on concepts and conventions 288
Limitations of published financial statements 295
The historical perspective of financial statements 295
Lack of disclosure 295
Changes to the sources of information 296
One set of financial statements for all purposes 296
Aggregation 297
Objectivity vs. subjectivity 298
Timing differences 299
Part 3 Further Aspects Of accounting For management And decision Making 301
Absorption costing, marginal costing and decision making 303
Absorption and marginal costing 303
Allocation of indirect manufacturing costs 303
Absorption costing: effect upon future action 304
The lesson to be learnt 306
Fixed and variable costs 306
Cost behaviour 306
Marginal costing and absorption costing contrasted 307
Comparison of reported profits – constant sales and 310
uneven production 310
Pricing policy 311
Full cost pricing 312
Example of full cost pricing 313
Contribution 315
Using marginal costs 315
Maximisation of total contribution 317
Activity-based costing (ABC) 319
Standard costing and variance analysis 333
Part I Standard Costing And Variance Analysis 333
Comparison with actual costs 333
Setting standards 334
Variance analysis 335
Adverse and favourable variances 336
Computation of variances 336
Part IIMaterials And Labour Variances 337
Materials variances 337
Materials variances – analysis 342
Key questions of variances 342
Formulas for materials variances 343
Inventory records under standard costing 343
Disposition of variances 343
Costing for labour 343
Labour variances 344
Labour variances – analysis 347
Formulas for labour variances 347
Part III Overhead And Sales Variances 347
Management overheads 347
Predetermined rates 348
Variances in overhead recovery 348
Assessing variances 351
Formulas for overhead variances 352
A comprehensive example 353
Variances and management action 356
Sales variances 356
Capital investment appraisal 372
Introduction 372
Accounting rate of return 373
Payback method 374
The time value of money 375
Cost of capital 376
Present values 376
Net present value 378
Internal rate of return (IRR) 379
Relevant and irrelevant costs 380
Sunk costs 380
A comparison of the methods 381
Merits and demerits of the techniques 382
Surveys of practice 383
Other factors affecting decision making – social accounting 395
Introduction 395
Costs and measurement 395
The pressure for social actions and social accounting 396
Corporate social reporting 397
Types of social accounting 397
National social income accounting 397
Social auditing 398
Financial social accounting in profit-oriented organisations 399
Managerial social accounting in profit-oriented organisations 399
Financial and/or managerial social accounting for 400
non-profit organisations 400
Conflict between shareholders’ interests and social considerations 401
Reports from companies 402
Part 4 Management Accounting principles And Budgeting 405
Elements of costing 407
Costs for different purposes 407
Past costs in trading companies 409
Past costs in manufacturing companies 409
Product costs and period costs 412
Advantages of a costing system 412
The control of costs 413
Costing: manufacturing firms compared with retailing or 414
wholesale firms 414
Contract accounts 419
Accounts and the business cycle 419
Opening contract accounts 419
Certification of work done 420
Allocation of overheads 420
Example 420
Profit estimation 422
Anticipated losses 422
SSAP 9 423
Job, batch and process costing 428
Introduction 428
The choice of job costing or process costing 428
Job costing 430
Cost centres – job costing and responsibility 433
Process costing 434
Normal and abnormal losses 435
Under/overabsorption of overheads 436
Other kinds of firms 437
The problem of joint costs 437
Budgeting and budgetary control 444
Financial budgets 444
Budgets and people 444
Budgets, planning and control 445
Preparation of estimates 446
The production budget 446
Even production flow 447
Uneven production levels 448
Cash budgets 451
The need for cash budgets 451
Timing of cash receipts and payments 452
Advantages of cash budgets 454
Profits and shortages of cash funds 455
Co-ordination of budgets 465
Master budgets 465
Capital budgeting 469
The advantages of budgeting 469
The use of computers in budgeting 471
Flexible budgets 471
Part 5 Supplementary Topics 481
Break-even analysis 483
Introduction 483
The break-even chart 484
Changes and break-even charts 487
The limitations of break-even charts 490
Contribution graph 492
The accounting equation and the balance sheet 500
What is accounting? 500
What is bookkeeping? 501
Accounting is concerned with . . . 501
Users of accounting information 501
The accounting equation 502
The balance sheet and the effects of business transactions 503
Equality of the accounting equation 506
More detailed presentation of the balance sheet 507
Appendix I Examination techniques 530
Appendix II Glossary 535
Appendix III Answers 545
Index 596